Broken Flashbacks and Whiskey (Dec. 2025)
Looking back on 2025, looking ahead to 2026. Lots to come!
The end of another year has wound its way here. Time simply keeps marching on despite the messiness and chaos of the world. I had a though in the early hours of this morning, looking out into the darkness of 6 a.m.
We are so young when we feel old because the world changes so fast as we survive our own lives.
A friend of mine always used to say, “The days are long but the years are short.” It all flies by as we meander through the mundane day-to-day and before we know it, days have become decades. Us older millennial kids have lived an entire fashion cycle. Old enough to almost have grown kids of our own. Old enough that parents are aging, maybe even gone already for some.
We aren’t old in age. I’m only 36. But between 1989 and now, so much has happened. The Berlin Wall came down in November 1989. How many wars have been fought from then until now? Princess Diana died. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip have all passed on. We see a whole new generation of the Royal Family, and a new king. Betty White is gone. Kurt Cobain died in the 90s. Music changed drastically. 9/11 happened. More wars. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and came back as the Russia we now know who invaded several countries since. The Cold War ended in 1991. Crypto currency rose and fell. Journalism as we once knew it died and became a monopoly of corporations. In 2025, we saw Trump take his second term in office and… well, hello fascism waving an American flag.
Nevermind the high school kids now wearing Nirvana shirts. Thinking of all the above makes me feel old as dirt. There’s much, much more than that list, but those are the things that come to mind.
The book world changed drastically along with it all. When I was a kid, big publishers and small presses were still the only way to get books published, unless one used vanity presses. Self-publishing wasn’t a thing until I was an adult. And what a revelation that was. Now, generative AI is everywhere. I didn’t even grow up with a computer in the house, so to see how far things have come, good and bad, is wild.
Everything changes on scales great and small. My own life this year brought many changes. I’m getting married soon. This will be my second marriage (I’ve always heard it’s usually better than the first anyway) which feels weird to say. I also began my own cleaning business in January, after years slaving away for companies that pay way too little and expect way too much. It was a slow start, but spring and summer got busy before relaxing shortly before Christmas.
It means that between my books and my cleaning business, I am completely independent. I don’t work for anyone except my cleaning clients. That was the massive change in my life for 2025.
There was a trend on BlueSky to “Quote this with what you have accomplished in 2025 no matter how small.” Here’s mine:
So, what’s next?
My goals for 2026 look a little something like this:
💜Release “Beyond Dark 2: Gravedigger.” This book is still with my editor.
💜Finish writing, editing, and release “Martha Holmes Mysteries 2.” I have some of the first draft written.
💜Continue with “Beyond Cover” on Substack. This will be a series of books I am really excited to bring to life online. I am a few chapters ahead of what I am posting so hopefully I can keep that up.
💜Start the first draft of “Beyond Dark.” I have an outline already and am stoked to start it in the New Year.
I aim to ensure writing the next book in this series doesn’t take me four years again. It’s why I focused so much on learning to outline this year. It will hopefully make my editing process go more smoothly versus having to rewrite a draft done purely from discovery writing. I have so many projects I want to do and don’t want to take so long for each of them.
Growth has truly been central to 2025 for me in both writing and business. And I look forward to carrying that into 2026.
And with only a few days left in the year, that means the Smashwords End of Year sale is drawing to a close. “Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna” is on sale for $1.99 until Jan. 1 — if you’re looking to catch up before the sequel comes out later this year.
The update on book 2 is the same as it has been: waiting for my editor. I know it seems like a long wait, but there were circumstances around it and we are only human. We were both behind schedule in 2025 and it takes time to catch up.
The first two chapters are up! Chapter 3 will follow on Dec. 30. Come join in the chaotic adventures with undercover agents Emily Abbett and Dwayne MacMorris as they navigate the gritty underworld and their own corrupt agency.
We meet the agents as Dwayne (as his undercover personality, Nikolai) is interrogated by higher up mobsters and loses his temper. Meanwhile, Emily is setting up a meeting with a paranoid gangster to purchase some diamonds. But a premonition haunts her: will the transaction go wrong?
It does. When the deal goes wayward, Emily and Dwayne find themselves scrambling get some distance from the situation which could only get them into more hot water.
For more information on this series, visit:
I have the first three chapters of a first draft done for “Martha Holmes Mysteries 2: The Bitter Obsession.” Originally, I had five chapters started, but didn’t like how the story started out so I re-adjusted some stuff in my outline and started over. I am also aiming to have this one done and published this coming year so that readers get treated to both sequels in these series. Lots to come!
Final Thoughts
I would like to thank everyone for being here this year, despite my mental health hiatus and being a tad disorganized. I hope to go into 2026 with a functional writing schedule which gives me time to keep up with it all. And I hope 2026 brings you many blessings, dreams, and achievements, big or small.
— Lav